Getting the band back together!

As I said before, it was really nice to do that last OilCan Drive piece and have the band all on the same page again. I liked it so much, in fact, that a few pages of my notebook became devoted to sketching out other ideas I could do to put the band together.

Most of them are ideas for record sleeves or CD covers. The trouble is thinking of a generic enough image that could be used in a variety of places but still be specific enough to get across an idea of what the band is about.

This will also give you a good idea of how I get ideas out of my head and onto the page. Unfortunately, nothing ever starts out as a completely finished piece. Most ideas I have come out just like this to begin with.

Seven Inch Record Sleeve, front and back:

I needed a good image that could wrap around an old seven inch record sleeve. It needed to get across the idea that this is a band, it's the future, and it's a fun concept.

After watching "Grease" last week, the image of the guys posing after singing "Greased Lightning" stuck in my head. I figured the band posing, while flying in a hot-rod like airship, with Henry the gorilla hanging on for dear life from the back, would make an excellent image.

CD Covers:

The next batch of images needed to be a single, strong image that could fit on a small CD package and still get the point across.

My first idea was a Drew Struzan-like layout with one giant head (Ryan) surrounded by a full figure of Henry and smaller heads of the other two members of the band (Vince and Nicole).

I like the idea but it really doesn't get the point across. I may just pencil it out anyway, just to see how it turns out.

It's hard to hate a Drew Struzan inspired piece.

This next one was more of an iconic image.

Ryan and Vince, the two guitar players in the band, stand back to back, while the other two sit back on the sides.

This piece works and feels like an actual band's photo shoot. The idea of the band actually posing for the photos led me to more ideas.

So, I decided to do a few pieces with one member of the band as the focus and the others in the background, supporting them.

First up was Nicole because, honestly, she's a girl, sexy, hot, and it's never not fun to draw her.

My idea is that while posing for a promotional shot the rest of the band happened to come up behind her and get an eyeful. Maybe a bit of her undies are showing. Or maybe not. I just wanted the boys to give a little bit of "oh my" look to see their drummer in a sexy position.

Gathering steam off of the Nicole idea, I wondered how the rest of the band would act behind each member that was posing.

Vincent is the serious member of the band. He's all business all the time. An image of him standing stoic, arms folded, just seemed natural.

To have the rest of the band hamming it up behind him, making faces, putting fingers up behind his head, was all their idea.

I'd hate to be them when Vince finally figures out what is going on.


And, last but not least, I thought I'd show a little bit of Henry's "Cowardly Lion" side by having his showcase piece feature him backing away in fright.

The rest of the band is behind him, maybe scared just as much by what he's seeing. Or, maybe they're just scared that he'll back up too much and squish them against the wall.

Monika doesn't like this piece too much because she says it's confusing, uninviting and, while it might make a good comic book cover, is a little too confusing for a CD cover.

So, what do you think? Any winners in the bunch? Any pieces I shouldn't give the time of day? Any I should just chuck and not spend one more minute of wasted time on?

I'm curious to hear...